Mobile Programmatic: what comes next in 2016

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In the
last few years, you’ll probably have heard the same message a lot: ‘next
year is the year programmatic becomes mainstream’. But we’re firmly past that stage
now – programmatic is here, and it’s here to stay. In fact, eMarketer estimates
automated
ads will account for nearly 60% of the UK’s digital display market in 2015. Yet
despite its ever-expanding popularity, programmatic is still seen by many as a
nebulous, imprecise technology, with some still unclear on how the technology
actually works, particularly in the mobile space. With that in mind, 2016 will
be the year to turn back to basics by consolidating the integral role of programmatic
in mobile, improving end user engagement and making purchases easier.

Clearly, programmatic is by no
means there yet. In fact, the lack of a comprehensive mobile approach has been
highlighted by the emergence of ad blocking as a major force – as of October
2015, 18%
of web users in the UK admit to using ad blockers due to the continued
presence of ill-targeted, disruptive advertising on the mobile platform. What,
then, should advertisers and publishers be looking at to ensure cut through for
their mobile campaigns? How can they engage better with their prospects once
and for all using programmatic?

At a time when cut-through for
advertising is integral to overall brand strategy, many brands continue to
antagonize their audience by serving them adverts during work hours, or when
reading specific content when most users don’t want to be distracted. To
achieve cut-through, it’s best to target users when they are going to be
receptive - usually between 7 and 8pm, when they settle down for the evening
and are most likely to look to make informed purchasing decisions. It’s also
worth knowing the kind of connection users are operating from. It’s actually
been proven that consumers browsing over the mobile network rather than Wi-Fi are
less likely to be intending to purchase – after all, most people tend to do
this over an established Wi-Fi connection.

What’s more, many buyers are
purchasing inventory at a time when their target audiences aren’t actually
online. In the UK on weekdays for instance, a large audience might appear on
the market between 3 and 5pm. Advertisers snap this up readily, but actually most
of the traffic is children generating mobile inventory after they get out of
school. In most cases these children aren’t
in a position to be making purchases, so won’t be the target audience of many
advertisers. This has become a big issue that sees a brand’s valuable budget going to waste.

Making purchasing easier

Ultimately, to promote purchases
on the back of their advertising, it is essential brands make it easier for users
to complete a purchase when they are enthused by a product. It’s therefore worth
considering the ever-expanding popularity of dual-screening and its impact on
purchases when planning a campaign. Currently, many users who are enthused by a
product they see on TV will not be converted into a purchase, because they lack
the desire to then search for the advertised product/service on their device.
However in 2016, we envisage increased efforts to reduce such behaviour by
making cross-device attribution a reality. By closely co-ordinating their
mobile campaigns with those they are running on television, advertisers will be
able to support TV adverts with ads on consumers’ mobiles while they are
dual-screening. This will encourage them to pursue their initial interest in a
product, significantly increasing the chance of an eventual purchase as a
result.

In any campaign, it’s also vital
to ensure the actual process of purchasing an item is as easy as possible. Many
retailers have already moved to do this by introducing one-click ordering,
which reduces the hassle involved with entering payment details every time a
consumer wishes to make a purchase. By allowing the use of centralized payment
technologies such as Apple Pay and PayPal and featuring them within mobile ads,
brands can make it easier to make a purchase if an item piques their initial
interest, and jog the memory of those who were interested previously. As such
systems become increasingly popular in the coming year, one-click ordering and
similar practices will become much more prevalent.

Target emerging markets, and be aware of the Android – iOS divide

One trend that will undoubtedly
continue is the rapid growth of programmatic in Asia, based on the huge uptake
of mobile there in recent years -
mobile’s percentage of programmatic spend in Asia-Pacific is set to double from
24% to almost 50% by 2019. Moreover, increased competition between
operators has helped to reduce the costs of bandwidth, making browsing cheaper
for consumers and increasing the amount of time spent online. The last few
months have seen a huge surge in inventory in the Asian market, with China in
particular the focus of buyers’ attentions. It’s therefore a good time to
invest in the Asian markets and be the first to offer programmatic, given that
a large number of consumers there will be using smartphones for the first time.

In these emerging markets, it’s also
important to ensure adverts are tailored to the operating system of consumers.
Whereas in the West the predominant operating system is iOS, in the East it is
Android, due to their devices being cheaper. It’s important to bear this in
mind for campaigns in the region – with those tailored to Android likely to be
more suited to the user experience. However it’s also worth considering that in
relative terms, iOS inventory has a far greater value due to the more robust
accreditation procedure used for its apps. When combined with iOS’ advantage
over Android in centralized payments thanks to Apple Pay, it’s essential that
advertisers consider carefully who they plan to target with their campaigns.

Ultimately, 2016 is going to
continue to be all about mobile – but it’s also going to be geared towards
impressive, yet simple consumer experiences – and making sure they aren’t
irritated in any way on their journey to make a purchase. That will start with
tailored, correctly-timed advertising and needs to lead through to a great
browsing and payment experience.

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